


Little Reminders

by Eggums



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Pillow Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 06:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7157699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggums/pseuds/Eggums
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He does realize that people are actively trying to kill her, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Reminders

Cullen yawned, body yearning for the warmth of the bed and the woman burrowed into the sheets.   
Her soft breathing seemed to fill the room.

It was still so early, the room was only barely lit by the lazily rising rays of sun. Still, it was enough for Cullen as he started his day. He washed the sleep out of his eyes and pulled his clothes on - ignoring the chill in the room. He should talk to Josephine about getting the roof repaired - the next storm would leave the room in snow drifts.   
The Inquisitor didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to prefer sleeping here than in her own luxurious quarters. She mentioned, more than once, that she loved to see the stars over Cullen’s shoulder. He smiled at the memory.   
  
It would've been a pleasure to remain entangled with his lover for a few hours more but there was still so much to do for the Inquisition. So much to prepare for and collect, and even more for the Inquisitor herself to do as she traveled the lands, catering to the people.   
“It’s nice to be needed.” She’d told him once, “Even if it is just to help wrangle a druffalo into its pen.”    
He really should wake her up.   
He knew he should.  
But she did so much and rarely had the opportunity to stop and breathe.   
  
Cullen, instead, moved to pull the sheets over her more fully as her bare shoulder and back were exposed. It wouldn’t do for the Inquisitor to catch a chill.  
His eyes drifted slowly over naked skin as he gently tugged the sheets upwards until he froze.  
He focused on a set of bruises on her lower back. They hadn't been there the night before.   
They were small and round but following in a curved line.   
They were made by his own fingers.

Cullen’s stomach lurched.  
He had no idea he had held her so tightly that he _bruised_ her. 

As he stared, he realized he could see more evidence of his rough mistreatment - welts and scratches where his blunt nails had scraped. More finger-shaped bruises. And there, at the junction between her neck and shoulder - teeth marks.

“You’re frowning so loudly that it's disturbing my sleep.”  
Cullen dropped the edge of the sheets and glanced upward to see… that she was still mostly buried in her pillow, eyes shut. She could have been still slumbering except her lips were curled in a tiny smile, “What has my lion bristling this early in the morning?”

His face warmed at the term of endearment.   
_My_ _golden lion_ , she’d whispered into his ear.   
  
“Nothing, my love.” he murmured softly, “Keep sleeping. You deserve more time to rest.”   
She smiled wider, eyes opening slightly, “So do you. Stay with me. Keep me warm.”  
“I would like that…” he dropped his eyes to the shape her hip made beneath the sheet, “... I must get to work. Soldiers to train, paperwork to fill out. Josephine does love her paperwork.”  
He sat heavily on the bed, regardless, “I’ll have someone bring you breakfast.”  
“Better plan,” She rolled onto her side, “Have someone bring us breakfast and we’ll eat together. I, at least, deserve to have breakfast with you.”  
Cullen smiled, eyes aimed high to avoid the temptation, “We’ll have dinner together.”  
  
“We have dinner with everyone, that doesn’t count.” She touched his leg with her too-light hand, “What’s the matter? You were very warm smiles and lingering gaze just a few moments ago… and then…?”  
“You saw that?”  
She smiled, “I always feel your gaze on me.”  
Cullen swallowed hard, “You do?”  
  
She laughed then, big and bright. She kept her hand on his leg, fingers curling into the fabric of his trousers when he moved to stand, “Wait- tell me, what’s wrong? If you don’t tell me, I’ll be distracted all day wondering what I did wrong.”  
“You did nothing wrong.” Cullen protested, “It- it’s me-”  
She wrinkled her nose, “Don’t you dare break up with me, Cullen Rutherford, I won’t have it- _especially_ not while I’m naked. If you think I won’t chase you across this castle buck-ass nude-”  
“No no!” Cullen interrupted her, “No- I could never. I- it’s just that… I saw your hip.”  
  
She glanced down to her own body, still covered by the sheet, “Is there something wrong with it?”  
“No, not… I- I left bruises. On your hip.” He shoulders slumped, “I had no idea I was being so- so rough… I am- so sorry-”  
“Rough?” She threw off the sheet that covered her to examine her hip, eyes narrowing to better focus, “Where?”  
“There, just above your hand- yes-”  
“Oh. Is that all?”  
“No- there are more.”   
“Oh.” She made a soft noise of agreement, “I see, I can feel a few now. Well done.”   
  
“I should ask the surgeon for a compress so that the swelling goes- _well done_?”  
The Inquisitor nodded, “Mm, yes. I’ll be feeling a few of these for hours.” She grinned at him, “What a lovely gift you’ve bestowed upon me, my lion.”   
Cullen blinked at her, confused, “Gift? My love, I’ve- bruised you. _Hurt_ you.”  
“Hurt?” She repeated, “Cullen, you haven’t hurt me. What gave you that ridiculous idea?”  
  
“You have bruises and… marks.”   
She peered at the man for a few quiet moments, “You think you have grievously injured me, Cullen? Bruised me beyond repair? Sweetheart, you realize I specialize in hand-to-hand combat and that there are people out there who are actively trying to kill me, yes? I’ve been punched in the face by a Templar. In full armor - he didn’t attempt to pull back, even a little, despite the fact that he stood well over a foot taller than me and likely knew full well that I’m a woman and an elf. You realize this, correct?”  
  
She was smiling, Cullen could see, but it didn’t seem to negate the awful way he’d felt when he learned he’d manhandled her.   
“Darling,” She laughed, a little helplessly, “You look as though you accidentally murdered a kitten, Cullen. Look at me. _Look at me_.” She cupped his face in her hands, her thumbs rubbing tiny circles against his jaw, “You have not hurt me in any way, Cullen Rutherford. These tiny bruises and marks are _mine_ and I _love_ them. They are my wonderful reminders of _you_ and how you feel about me. I am not mad or upset that you lose some control when we are making love.”  
Cullen blushed and she laughed, drawing him in to kiss him once, twice.   
  
“You are not allowed to hold back from me, my lion. I want to feel your hands on me even if I haven’t seen you in days. I want to recall our time together when my clothes and armor rub against your reminders. How else am I to keep warm when you are so far away and I’m stuck in a tent in the Fallow Mire with Varric snoring next door?”   
Cullen couldn’t resist a chuckle, “Surely it’s not that bad with all the wind and rain?”  
“The soldiers tell me there’s always more dead who attack the camp at night when Varric is there. He _disturbs_ the dead, Cullen. Not mages, not movement in the water. Varric’s snoring.”  
Cullen snorted and the Inquisitor laughed, eyes dancing the way they did when she was joking.  
  
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, “There are people out there who hurt me, Cullen. You are not one of them. I need you. Need reminding that you’re here and waiting for me because sometimes… sometimes it’s the only reason I continue to fight.” She drew back to meet his eyes, “Do you understand?”  
“I can’t be the only reason-”  
“I do not lie to you.” She shook her head slowly, “When the battle grows too long, the demons seem unending - there are times when I wish I could just _stop_. Walk away and never return. Then I remember you, Cullen. My golden lion. I remember that if I stop, I could lose you. So I do not stop. Not until this is finished and you… and _we_ are safe.”  
  
Cullen sighed deeply and pulled her back into a hug, stroking her back, “I don’t want to leave marks on you. It’s… rude.”  
The Inquisitor giggled into his shoulder, “I disagree. I want them so you should just accept defeat now, Commander. Besides, why are you so despondent over the marks on me but you ignore the ones I leave on you?”  
“Have you? I hadn’t noticed.”  
“And neither would I have if you hadn’t pointed them out. Or until I felt them later. Either way I would not have been displeased.”   
  
She pulled away from Cullen, “Now, you have a choice. You can lay down and go back to sleep with me _or_ we can get breakfast and come back and eat together. Alone.”  
“Those are my only two options?”  
“By declaration of the Inquisitor, yes.” She nodded solemnly, “Choose your fate.”   
“Well, I did pledge myself to the Inquisition.” Cullen mused, “I suppose I will choose breakfast.”  
“So be it.”   
  
*  
  
Later, after they ate and the Inquisitor convinced him to stay even longer, Cullen lay on his back with the woman nestled beside him. They watched the clouds drift overhead and the occasional bird flutter across the sky.   
Cullen murmured that they would need to get a roof soon - before the storm season set in.   
The Inquisitor disagreed. “Only swear to me this, Cullen Rutherford.”  
“Anything.”  
She smiled, “Be careful or I will ask for everything.”  
“I stand by my statement.”  
She dug her fingers into his ribs, causing him to yelp.  
“Keep the roof open. When I am away, look at the moon and stars and know that I am looking at them too.”  
Cullen smiled, “Is that your reminder for me?”  
  
“I can give you many others, if you like.” She sat up, hair falling over her shoulders, and leaned over him. She wriggled her fingers and grinned down at him, “Lots and lots of little reminders.”

**Author's Note:**

> My first on this site, however, I am on other sites. 
> 
> Playing Dragon Age: Inquisition thanks to my beloved Bini. Hope you enjoy, Bin.   
> Thanks to Pine, too, for not judging us as vocally as you could have, hah


End file.
